Manatee deputy faces child molestation charges

Thursday

May 23, 2013 at 1:29 PMMay 23, 2013 at 7:04 PM

Dale Couch, who has been on leave since August, was the subject of a criminal and internal investigation

SHANNON McFARLAND

A Manatee County Sheriff's lieutenant was arrested Thursday and charged with three counts of lewd and lascivious molestation on a child. The arrest on felony charges followed a long criminal and internal investigation that began last summer, Sheriff Brad Steube said.

The three charges against the lieutenant, Dale Couch, are for crimes alleged to have occurred against two children between 2009 and 2012.

Last July, the Sheriff's Office received information from the children's mother about possible criminal acts by Couch, 50, involving inappropriate touching of a juvenile.

The two children involved in the case were 9 and 12 at the time.

The morning the allegations surfaced Couch was at home, off-duty. He became “enraged,” hitting a door several times until he broke it off its hinges, according to the investigative report.

Couch, a 20-year veteran of the department, was placed on administrative leave in August pending the outcome of criminal and internal investigations.

Multiple people were interviewed about the allegations, including Couch, the alleged victims and their mother, a young sibling, and others with potential knowledge about Couch's past behavior. Couch denied all of the allegations, which include a claim that he inappropriately touched one child on multiple occasions as she sat on his lap.

Couch worried that the allegations would “destroy his career,” one interviewee told detectives, according to the internal affairs report.

After the investigation by the Sheriff's Office and the State Attorney's Office, prosecutors decided in November that charges would not be filed. Citing insubstantial evidence and no history of such allegations or a confession, prosecutors closed the case.

Couch was on routine suspension and returned to work after that.

But on March 25, the Sheriff's Office received additional information in connection with the case. The inquiry was reopened, Couch was suspended again, and the new information was forwarded to the state attorney. After reviewing the evidence, prosecutors decided that charges should be filed, signing the final paperwork this week.

Lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim under the age of 12 is a crime that could carry a sentence up to life in prison if Couch is convicted.

The Sheriff's Office proposed terminating Couch, but under state law he has a right to a hearing, set for next week. Until that time, Couch will be suspended without pay.

The Sheriff's Office says the investigation is ongoing.

“It was a very disturbing day, with the arrest of one of our own on some very serious charges,” Sheriff Steube said. Although Steube was not involved with the investigation, he was aware of it.

Steube said Couch was arrested without incident at the Sheriff's Office. He was being held Thursday without bond, according to court documents.

Couch has been the subject of four internal affairs investigations since he joined the agency in 1993.

Two of the previous investigations concluded that the allegations against him were “not sustained.” Couch was exonerated in the other inquiries.

For Couch, the Sheriff's Office is a family business, with a former wife and an adult daughter employed at the county jail and his brother a former captain.

In March, Couch's brother, Capt. Ron Couch, opted to retire after 28 years following an internal affairs investigation that concluded he drew his pistol and pointed it at a lieutenant who startled him in his office.

He also admitted that he had punched two subordinates who had similarly startled him.

Internal affairs investigators found that Ron Couch had violated two general orders: endangering through neglect, and failing to adhere to general orders.

The Sheriff's Office conducted a separate criminal investigation to determine if Ron Couch had committed a crime for improper exhibition of a dangerous weapon or firearm. The state attorney reviewed the case and declined to prosecute after speaking with the alleged victim.

EARLIER: Manatee County sheriff's Lt. Dale Couch was arrested today after a long criminal and internal investigation that began last summer, Sheriff Brad Steube has confirmed.

Couch was put on administrative leave in August, pending the outcome of both criminal and internal investigations, Steube said then.

Steube said more information would be released today.

Couch was also the subject of four internal affairs investigations since he joined the agency in 1993.

Two of the previous investigations concluded that the allegations against him were “not sustained.” Couch was exonerated by the other inquiries.

Check back for more on this developing story.

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